CAPTAIN AMERICA'S BICENTENNIAL BATTLES...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

If you can remember the long hot summer of 1976 then, like me, you're ancient.  There was a heatwave that year and I recall watching waves of steam rising from the tarmacadam roads like a tangible force.  Jack 'King' Kirby had returned to Marvel from a five year stint at DC only the year before, and in '76 he had two new Marvel Treasury Editions on sale.  Namely, Captain America's Bicentennial Battles and 2001: A Space Odyssey.  The two currently in my collection are replacements I acquired a good number of years ago and one glance at them returns me to those days in a heartbeat.

It's said you can get too much of a good thing, but I've never let that deter me from buying different printings of the same comics.  Facsimiles, True Believers, collected editions, etc., are a magnetic lure to me I find nigh-impossible to resist.  That's why I recently forked out for a new edition (well, 2021) of Cap's Bicentenial Battles Treasury, plus a Cap America collected volume (2005) containing the same titanic tale (as well as a few other Cap reprints).  The TE is almost the same dimensions as the original, though on better paper, with a deluxe overlapping cover.

The book is around the same dimensions as a standard comic mag (but with more pages obviously) and also contains CA #s 201-205, again on superior paper.  Whoever was responsible for compiling the credits for the front of the book had clearly never heard of Barry Smith, as, obviously having referred to the credits from the tale where Barry is listed as B. Smith, rendered his name as Bob Smith.  (I wonder what Barry would say if he ever gets to know.)  Thing is, because the original '76 Treasury is a peculiar size, being presented in a smaller format leaves too large a margin below the bottom of the page.

The 'new' Treasury is a very handsome affair and if you're a Captain America or Jack Kirby fan, it's definitely one you should consider adding to your collection - even if you already own its original incarnation.  And just to be complete, below is the cover to Kirby's other '76 Treasury Edition - 2001: A Space Odyssey.  If you once had either (or both) of these two publications (or still have them), share your thoughts about them in our comments section.

Copyright relevant owner